Agree: "writing" can be seen as producing output (text), but the _process_ or _ritual_ of writing also has positive consequences.
By repeating a ritual around writing (e.g. with coffee daily), you _train your mind_ to be more creative. The first few times you try to write it's hard and pointless. But after a while your brain comes out to play! It's refreshing and quite invigorating to be able to sit down and write.
You also train your mind to be able to produce on command. The author David Kadavy realized he's the most creative very early in the day, even before he gets out of bed. So he has a dedicated word processor device next to his bed. Daily, he wakes up and uses it to type an essay. Then: he deletes his writing. His goal is to get creative insights and train his mind, the goal is not the writing itself.
Ness Labs is a wonderful source of interesting creative writing, I'm glad to see her on HN.
I like to write documentation for software first before I write the code.
If you can explain how it works clearly and easily, you probably have a decent design. If not, you probably still have some design/redesign work to do.
By repeating a ritual around writing (e.g. with coffee daily), you _train your mind_ to be more creative. The first few times you try to write it's hard and pointless. But after a while your brain comes out to play! It's refreshing and quite invigorating to be able to sit down and write.
You also train your mind to be able to produce on command. The author David Kadavy realized he's the most creative very early in the day, even before he gets out of bed. So he has a dedicated word processor device next to his bed. Daily, he wakes up and uses it to type an essay. Then: he deletes his writing. His goal is to get creative insights and train his mind, the goal is not the writing itself.
Ness Labs is a wonderful source of interesting creative writing, I'm glad to see her on HN.